Folder for sewing machines



NOV. 24, 1931. GERMAIN 1,832,980

FOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed NOV. 19, 1928 H II Patented Nov. 24,, 1931 ALBERT GERMAIN, OF HAVERHIIL, MASSACHUSETTS FQLDEB FOR SEWING MACHINES,

Application filed November 19, 1928, Serial ltmfiafitfitt.

The present invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to material folding attachments therefor which fold and double a galloon or like narrow tape or ribbon, and then guide the doubled galloon into position about one edge of a shoe upper or other work where it is stitched hy the sewing machine and forms a binding.

The principal object of the present inven- 6 tion is to produce a folding attachment for sewing machines in which the folding. and douhling mechanism will have the quality of operating on the gallo-on to prepare it for stitching, in uninterrupted succession and in a certain and reliable manner To the accomplishment of this object a feature of the invention contemplates the provision in a folding attachment for sewing machines of a specially shaped slot for d recting and folding one margin of galloon material and a passage contiguous thereto and operating consecutively therewith shaped for doubling the folded material.

Broadly considered the folding means and the doubling means may be mounted separately so long as they are contiguous and the doubling means operates consecutively with the folding means. It is preferred, however to embody the folding means and the doubling means in a one-piece body portion to positively insure their contiguity and consecutiveness of operation. I

Accordingly another feature of the present invention contemplates the provision in a folding attachment for sewing machines of a one-piece body portion having spaced walls forming a lengthwise doubling slot and a communicating folding slot through one wall for successively folding one of the edges of the material and doubling the folded material.

A further feature of the invention contemplates the provision in a folding attachment for sewing machines of a doubling passage having a width less than the width of the material and an entrant edge for said passage constructed positively tofold the excess width of the'material to permit it to pass smoothly through the passage.

Further features of the invention contemplate the provision in a folding attachment for sewing machines of means for maintainmg a predetermined direction of the fold of means for varying the width of the fold or for folding varying widths of material, of means for varying the amount of overlap of the binding upon opposite faces of the work and 1n certain devices, combinations and arrangements of parts tending to improve and simplify the construction and operation of folding attachments for sewing'machines and enable them to operate with certainty and without malformation of the galloori, The advantages of these devices combinations and arrangements of parts will he obvious to those skilled in the art from the following description.

The various features of the invention will be best understood from an inspection of the accompanying drawings illustrating the best To form of the invention at present devised in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of the fold ing attachment for sewing machines showing how the galloon approaches it while on edge as and how the folded and doubled galloon is delivered with its folds in substantially a horizontal plane. together with the needle of the sewing machine and a fragmentary view of a piece of work fed past the needle in a ea horizontal plane with the folded galloon stitched to an edge thereof;

Fig. 2 is a View, in plan, of the attachment showing its relation to the work and the path of the needle;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view with the galloon'omitted;

Fig. 4 is a rear view. in elevation, of the delivery end of the folding attachment;

Fig. 5 is a detail. in end elevation, of the adjustment for width of galloon; and 7 Figs. 6 and 7 are views in perspective of' fragmentary pieces of work illustrative of the results attained by the folding attachment.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the folding attachment for sewing machines receives a galloon 8 (Fig.1), that is advanced to the folder on edge, forms a. fold 9 (Figs. 4 and 6) in its upper margin 10, 1

and then doubles the folded material. The folded and doubled galloon is delivered from the folder in substantially a horizontal plane so that its folds can be applied in theform of a binding 11 about an edge 12 (Flg. l) of the work 13 which is fed forward in a horizontal plane. The work is fed past the needle 14 which, in connection with the other stitch-forming instrumentalities of the sewing machine, forms a securing line of stitches 15.

The galloon 8 is folded and doubled within a one-piece body portion 16 of the folder (Fig. 3) having an attached, preferably integral, supporting bar 17 (Figs. 1, 3 and 5) which is secured to a suitable base by the screws 18. The forward end 19 (Figs. 1 and 3) of the body portion 16 is shaped to loosely embrace the edge of the work that is to be bound so that the folded and doubled galloon ma be applied accurately to the work as it is ed past the needle 14.

The body portion 16 of the folder is provided with a vertical face 20 (Fig. 3) directed towards the needle 14 and a semi-cylindrical face 21 which forms a wall for a longitudinal arcuate passage 22. This is the doubling slot and its width is less than the width of the galloon 8 presented to it.

In order to produce a fold 9 in a margin 10 of the galloon 8, which will reduce the width of the galloon to such an extent that it can pass through the doubling slot 22, the circular wall 21 is provided with a blind fold slot 23, that is, it is open only at one end. The open or entrant end of the slot 23 is located in the vertical plane in which the galloon 8 approaches the doubling slot 22. The opposed edges of the slot 23 will, therefore, embrace the margin 10. The slot 23 is of arcuate form so that as the margin 10 passes through the slot the edge thereof is gradually bent inward until it engages the blind end of the slot which causes said edge continually to fold flatwise upon the same face of the galloon as it passes into the passage 22 to be doubled. The blind end of the slot 23, as best shown by Fig. 3, curves downwardly.

With this construction the folding means constituted by the slot 23 and the doubling means constituted by the passage 22 are contiguous and the doubling means operates consecutively with the folding means. By consecutively is meant the quality of following in uninterrupted succession. The fold 9 enters the passage 22 immediately upon its formation and the passage 22 holds the fold intact during its travel therethrough. The passages 22 and 23 are united by contact of openings so that movement of the fold out of the passage 23 occurs simultaneously with its entrance into the passage 22. ,With this construction it is impossible for the fold to become malformed between the folding and doubling operations upon the galloon.

In practice, assuming that the work is to be provided with a binding measuring 3 lignes from edge to edge, then the body portion 16 of the folder will be provided with a doubling slot 22 that 1s 3 lignes Wide. The galloon presented to the doubling slot will be 3 lignes wide and the fold slot will be designed to turn down a ligne fold in the galloon margin 10. This marginal fold lies inside the doubled galloon when it is delivered and turned into the path of feed past the needle, as best shown by Fig. 4. If it is desired to give a rolled appearance to the binding then a 1 ligne fold may be made in a 4 ligne galloon. This wider fold crowds under at the edge of the work and simulates a roll. It will be apparent that as the doubling slot 22 has a width less than the width of the galloon 8 that the width of the fold is the amount the galloon exceeds in width the width of the passage 22.

An adjustment providing for a variation in the width of the fold 9 on any width of galloon, thus permitting the same doubling slot 22 to be used for galloons differing in width, will now be described. A direction guide in the form of an angularly adjustable plate 25 having a guiding slot 26, through which the galloon passes, is pinched between two lugs 27 on the supporting bar 17 by a screw 28 passed through a hole in the plate 25. The screw lies axially of the body portion 16 of the folder and the direction guide is angularly adjustable across the path of movement of the galloon, about said screw as a pivot, whenever it is loosened. Such an adj ustment places the guiding slot 26 in varying angular positions relative to the fold slot 23 (see Fig. 5). Obviously as. the direction guide is bent more and more toward its dotted line position, Fig. 5, from its full line position, the width of the fold 9 becomes greater and greater because the margin 10 of the galloon is being drawn down further and further over the lower curved edge of the .fold slot 23. Thus an angular setting of the direction guide 25 controls the width of the fold for any width of galloon, within limits, that is fed to the folder.

To permit stitching, the folded galloon is turned 90 as it is delivered from the folder 16 (see Fig. 1). The mouth 19 (Figs. 3 and 4) at the delivery end of the folder 16 (a common construction) causes the folded galloon to double on itself on being directed toward the stitch-forming mechanism. This brings the fold 9 inside the upper layer (see Fig. 4) and makes the upper layer 31 somewhat narrower than the under layer 32 (Fig. 6). The fold roduces an absolutely even edge on the bindmg at the exposed face of the shoe upper, or other work, regardless of unevenness at the edge of the galloon in which the fold is made.

The folded edge of the binding is invariably straight and even because of the consecutive folding and doubling operations during which the fold is constantly preserved.

Provision is made for varying the width of the layer 31 (Figs. 6 and 7) of the binding on the exposed face of the work to which the binder is stitched. This is accomplished by a variation in the vertical relation of the folder 16 to the plane of the throat plate 33 or plane in which the work is fed past the needle. If the folder is raised, carrying the folded and doubled galloon away from the plane of the throat plate, then the presser foot 34 will engage the binder earlier in its descending stroke. Instead of merely pressing the upper layer 31 evenly against the work the outer edge of this layer is crowded down past the edge 1.2 of the work (see Fig. 7) thus drawing the inner edge of the layer nearer to the edge of the work before passing to the needle. The under layer 32 receives the material crowded down and is made wider (compare Fig. 7 with Fig. 6).

The adjustment just described is made by. loosening the binding screws 18 and turning down the set screw 35 at the forward end of the supporting bar 17, which bears on the underlying base plate, thus lifting the bar 17 about its rear end 36 (Fig. 3) as a pivot. A judicious setting of the screw 35 will produce varying widths in the exposed layer 31 of the binder as may be desired without changing the folder or the width of the galloon. After the setting has been made the binding screws are tightened again.

lVhile the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a Singer sewing machine for stitching a binding to leather in the shoe industry, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the folder may be employed in other industries and embodied in other types of sewing machines.

It will also be clear to those skilled in this class of attachments for sewing machines, with the general objects of the present invention in view, that changes may be made in the details of structure the described and illustrated embodiment thereof being intended as an exploitation of its underlying essentials,

the features whfieof are definitely stated in their true scope in the claims herewith.

lVhatis claimed as new. is:

1. In a sewing machine folding attachment for galloon or like material, a walled doubling passage having a width less than the width of the galloon, and a blind slot in one wall of said passage constructed to direct the excess width of the galloon downward and against the galloon to narrow it and permit it to pass through the passage.

2. In a folding attachment for sewing machines, a body portion having an internal passage having inner and outer walls for doubling galloon or like material, and an arcuate slot having parallel walls formed in said outer wall and communicating with said passage for directing and folding one edge of the galloon continually upon the same face of the galloon as it is drawn through the slot and into the passage.

3. In a folding attachment for sewing machines, a body portion having a slot for folding one of the edges of galloon and like material, a passage for doubling the folded galloon, and means adjacent the entrance to the folding slot for varying the width of the edge material to be folde 4. A sewing machine attachment for folding galloon or like material comprising a body portion having a passage for doubling the galloon and a slot in one wall for directing one margin of the galloon into said passage, and a guide member for the galloon in advance of said slot and adjustable to vary the obliquity of the plane in which the galloon stands as it passages into said slot.

5. A folding attachment for sewing machines comprising a body portion having a passage formed by concentric convex and concave walls for doubling, galloon or like material, and said concave wall having a blind ended passage therethrough open at the entrant edge of said concave wall and formed by concentric arcuate walls for folding one longitudinal edge of the galloon prior to its doubling.

6. In a folding attachment for sewing machines, a one-piece body portion having spaced walls forming a lengthwise doubling slot and a communicating folding slo-t through one wall of said body portion, each of said slots having a constant width throughout its length and acting successively to fold and double galloon or like material.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ALBERT GERMAIN. 

